A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module

Abstract

Placements are often an extra-curricular activity of a science degree. This study reports on the outcomes of a final year credit-bearing 6-week placement module that was specifically designed to develop and enhance students' employability skills. A key element of this module was that the student placements were not only evaluated from a science perspective, but also with an emphasis on meaningful reflection and evaluation of employability skills development. Students recorded their levels of confidence in skills before, during and after the placement via an Online Reflective Log, as part of a module's summative assessment. The results showed that taking part in the placement and conducting their own independent research helped students to make connections between their scientific knowledge, otherwise constrained within the walls of the undergraduate science lab, and the wider impact of their research on society. Another theme that emerged concerned career choices and aspirations, and the placement experience either confirmed prior choices or opened new horizons. The Online Reflective Log helped students to feel supported by their university supervisor who were at a distance. Feedback on their tasks prompted students to reflect on the scientific and personal skills while being engaged in scientific activities during placement. Students agreed that they had further developed their employability skills during the placement and acknowledged that it was challenging to acquire evidence of skills development. However, students appreciated the usefulness of this reflection in relation to their future career development.

Highlights of the IUBMB education session at the 20th IUPAB congress, 45th Annual SBBf Meeting, and 50th Annual SBBq Meeting

“…Luciane Vieira de Mello (University of Liverpool, UK) demonstrated the benefits of requiring students to engage in reflective practice to enhance their life and employability skills (Mello et al 2021 ). Recognizing that students are not always able to reflect on their skills development or on the connection between theory, practice, and their learning, the presentation argued that the science curriculum should allow more reflection and employability skills development (Mello and Wattret 2021 ).…”

‘Everyone is trying to outcompete each other’: a qualitative study of medical student attitudes to a novel peer‐assessed undergraduate teamwork module

“…Transferable skills, including teamwork, are just as essential in other subjects and fields of work, and as educators, we should share good practice in transferable skill education across disciplines. For example, graduates of bioscience programmes must be able to work in multidisciplinary teams, to be critical and open to new information and to reflect upon and develop their skills [1]. More broadly than that, it is clear that HE across Europe needs to do more to equip graduates with skills they need to thrive in modern workplaces in all sectors [14,15].…”

“…The effectiveness of teamwork education can be increased by making it authentic and relevant to the students and their future careers [17,29,30]. Placements can demonstrate to the students how essential these skills are in the real world, and reflecting on these experiences further reinforces learning and helps students identify areas they need to develop [1,31,32]. Indeed, the authenticity of the environment in which transferable skills are developed is important across disciplines, for example optimising the use of fieldwork to allow students to self-evaluate group work in geography and the value of laboratory sessions and informal study groups for science students to develop teamwork skills [33,34].…”

“…In contrast, after practice, students conveyed deeper insights, contextualisation, focus on how they might improve, and shared structured reflection.It is almost impossible to think of an area of work or society in which the ability to work in a team is not important. To be ready for the workplace, graduates must be equipped with vital transferable skills and be able to articulate them with insight and specific examples [1,2].This study offers an in-depth exploration of UK medical undergraduate students' perceptions of teamwork and teamwork education, in relation to a novel teamwork module. This study aimed to explore whether students had any greater insight into teamwork, in terms of the concepts of teamwork and their…”

“…It is almost impossible to think of an area of work or society in which the ability to work in a team is not important. To be ready for the workplace, graduates must be equipped with vital transferable skills and be able to articulate them with insight and specific examples [1,2].…”